The categorization of expatriates and the support offered by host country nationals

Breaking out of the expatriate bubble in Denmark: insights from the challenge of making connections with local Danes

Purpose

The social context of expatriation is crucial for expatriate success, including for building local host country national (HCN) social network support that can facilitate effective adjustment through information exchange. However, expatriates have particular difficulties in breaking out of the expatriate bubble and building social ties with HCNs in certain countries, especially in Scandinavia. This paper focuses on the case of Denmark and explains why many expatriates find it difficult to make social connections with Danes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study involves a meta-ethnography of literature on Danish culture, as well as semistructured interviews with a total of 16 expatriates in Denmark.

Findings

Three main cultural elements are identified as crucial for explaining the difficulty expatriates face in connecting with Danes, namely homogeneity, the value placed on equality and the public–private divide. The homogeneity and inward-looking mentality make it more difficult for outsiders to break into the social circle. Outsiders have to earn the trust that is difficult to obtain, reflecting Denmark's high score on GLOBE's institutional collectivism.

Practical implications

In light of the challenges that many expatriates face in creating a new social network abroad, organizations can support them in several ways. The authors discuss context-specific strategies for making new social connections in Denmark, which may be usefully applied in other countries.

Originality/value

This study focuses on the context of expatriate social network formation and shows that cultural differences in socializing affect the ease with which expatriates can make connections with HCNs, who can have a positive impact on expatriate adjustment and performance success.

The Role of Extraversion and Openness on Host Country Nationals' Task Performance and Contextual Performance at Work

Purpose

This study answer calls for research on host country nationals (HCNs) by examining factors that may influence HCN task performance and contextual performance during work with their self-initiated expatriate (SIE) colleagues.

Participants and Methods

Data on personality traits (extraversion, openness), socialization self-efficacy, and frequency of interaction, task, and contextual performance were collected by surveying 373 Chinese HCNs. The first author recruited the HCNs through SIEs working and living in China. SIEs who participated in this project provided the email addresses of HCNs with whom they worked.

Results

The frequency of interactions fully mediated the relationship between (a) extraversion with task and contextual performance and (b) openness with task and contextual performance. Only socialization self-efficacy moderated the mediating effects of extraversion on task performance via the frequency of interaction; it also moderated the mediating effects of openness on contextual performance via the frequency of interactions, but not in the hypothesized direction.

Conclusion

This study investigated the neglected stakeholder in the expatriation process, namely, HCNs, and what factors may impact HCNs' performance during work and collaboration with their SIE colleagues.

Improving expatriate adjustment: a social network perspective

Purpose

While the value of connections with host-country nationals (HCNs) for expatriate adjustment is well established, there is little guidance regarding which HCNs stand to benefit expatriates most. The purpose of this paper is to utilize a social network perspective to build theory to explain how and why expatriates who are connected to a central HCN are more likely to adjust. This study offers explicit guidance for steps parent country management can take to assist expatriates in the development of valuable connections with HCNs, even while thousands of miles away from the expatriate’s new locale.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes a social network approach to build theory that will improve understanding of the expatriate experience.

Findings

Because central individuals tend to be embedded in the organization, their embeddedness is likely to spread to expatriates with whom they are in close contact with. Links to central HCNs are posited to contribute to improved work adjustment by enabling expatriates to attain a better understanding of workplace requirements and workplace norms.

Practical implications

Management can take steps to identify central HCNs using social network analysis and introduce expatriates to highly central HCNs to help improve expatriate adjustment.

Originality/value

This study answers explicit calls in the literature for a greater exploration of social interaction of expatriates in understanding the expatriate experience, as well as calls for taking a more active role in the management of informal relationships. This study is the first to discuss implications of the HCN’s network to expatriate outcomes.

From expatriation to global migration

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the authors aim to examine the role of talent management (TM) practices in talent migration from developed countries to Ghana that may enhance country’s economic development through knowledge transfer. The paper also investigates the determinants of migration to the African countries.

Design/methodology/approach

Discussing the importance of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs), and how TM practices may contribute to global migration, the authors develop a set of propositions and build a theoretical framework showing how firms from Ghana can push SIEs to a longer stay in Ghana stimulating inward migration by implementing TM practices.

Findings

The authors claim that in the Ghanaian context expatriates may become migrants by overcoming negative perceptions about Ghana as a destination. Besides the authors argue that talent attraction and talent retention practices with governmental support, play an important role in inward migration to Ghana.

Research limitations/implications

New agenda for talent managers in Africa, namely addressing the possibilities for expatriates’ retention by developing and implementing TM practices to ensure knowledge transferring from developed countries is suggested.

Originality/value

The theoretical framework provides a useful starting point for explaining the interconnections of TM and the conversion from expatriation to the global migration phenomena by African countries that broaden the TM scope beyond individual and organizational aspects. The authors state that TM systems take on the principal role of addressing talent migration especially in the African context and are capable of converting expatriates, specifically SIEs, into migrants to solve important tasks related to knowledge attraction to developing countries.

A model of the dark side of expatriate–host country national relationships

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a nomological model of the dark side of expatriate–host country national (HCN) relationships by identifying and explaining the development and the types of expatriate–HCN disruptive relationship behaviors (DRBs), their antecedents and consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews (n=27) with both expatriates and HCNs, focusing on DRBs that they exhibit toward each other, the factors preceding them (antecedents) and the mechanisms through which they affect the relationship between expatriates and HCNs, as well as the outcomes of such behaviors.

Findings

The findings show that relational dysfunction emanates from multilevel differences between expatriates and HCNs, and these differences induce workplace conflicts. These conflicts increase relational (emotional, social, instrumental and opportunity) costs that render both dyadic members to evaluate their relationship and socially categorize each other negatively, thus, detaching from the relationship. This detachment then leads to disruptive relational behaviors that amplify the conflicts and detachment dynamics and worsen interpersonal and intergroup dynamics, ultimately resulting in relational breakdown.

Research limitations/implications

This study possesses methodological (e.g. relatively small number of interviewees) and conceptual (e.g. high degree of comprehensiveness) limitations. However, these offer implications for further research as they open a multitude of promising research avenues that could enhance the proposed model.

Originality/value

This is the first study the authors are aware of that focuses on discovering and explaining the nomological network of the dark side of expatriate–HCN relationships. The use of interdependence theory to understand cross-cultural relationships is novel. As such, it delivers theoretical and empirical contributions and fosters further research efforts.

Expatriates adjustment through transformation of social identity of Chinese expatriates working in Pakistan

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of Chinese expatriates’ adjustment in Pakistan through integrating the U-curve model and social identity theory. It has also highlighted the importance of engaging in strong social ties and their contribution in expatriates’ adjustment.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 30 Chinese expatriates working as directors, deputy directors, senior managers, managers and assistant managers in Chinese organizations in Pakistan. After verbatim transcription of all the interviews, data were analyzed using the NVivo software.

Findings

The findings of this paper indicate that expatriates’ identities somewhat changed in terms of their behaviors and work habits, while fewer changes were observed in their belief and value system. These changes were related to expatriates’ perceptions of host country groups, attraction to these groups and similarity in beliefs, which resulted in the development of interdependent beliefs and depersonalization. However, a few Chinese expatriates predominantly interacted among themselves at work, and their reduced socialization with Pakistanis lessened their chances of change.

Research limitations/implications

The results of the study suggest that expatriates’ adjustment is a multi-stage process and social identity change is one of the powerful mechanisms through which they adjust in the host country’s environment; hence host organizations should facilitate expatriates in strengthening their bond with local people.

Originality/value

This paper has proposed a model that explains the mechanism of Chinese expatriates’ adjustment in Pakistan through improved interactions between expatriates’ and host country nationals, resulting in minor social identity changes, leading to further positive relationship building, and then major social identity changes.

Expatriate mentoring: The case of a multinational corporation in Abu Dhabi

Orientation: Despite numerous studies on the adjustment challenges faced by expatriates, not much emphasis has been placed on mentoring and what mentoring plans should entail. This also pertains to research on expatriate mentoring in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has experienced massive economic growth and an influx of expatriates from across the globe.Research purpose: The main purpose of the study was to propose guidelines to a multinational corporation in Abu Dhabi on compiling an expatriate mentoring plan.Motivation for the study: The prevalence of expatriate assignments to the UAE and the fact that multinational companies report high failure rates served as the motivation for the study.Research approach/design and method: A mixed-method approach was followed, and a case study design was applied. A structured questionnaire was administered to 391 expatriate employees, after which principles for expatriate mentoring were formulated and presented to a focus group for discussion.Main findings: The findings show that expatriates faced challenges regarding work-related and personal-level adaptations, which emphasise the need for an expatriate mentoring plan.Practical/managerial implications: Principles for expatriate mentoring emanated from this study, namely structured interaction, clear objectives, target dates, regular reflection on challenges, formal evaluation and remedial action. These principles informed a proposed expatriate mentoring plan.Contribution/value-add: The study contributes both theoretically and empirically to the compilation of an expatriate mentoring plan.

Home away from home: community embeddedness and expatriate retention cognitions

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model that examines the influences of expatriate community relationship building behaviors on community embeddedness and community embeddedness on expatriate retention cognitions. The authors further investigate the moderating role of organizational identification.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data from 127 expatriates in the USA were collected and analyzed. The authors used multiple (moderator) hierarchical regression analyses to test the hypotheses. In addition, simple slopes analyses were conducted to further understand the interaction effects.

Findings

The results demonstrate that community relationship building behaviors positively influence expatriate community embeddedness, and the latter is associated with stronger retention cognitions. In addition, the paper finds that, for individuals who have lower levels of organizational identification, community embeddedness is particularly important.

Research limitations/implications

This study is based on cross-sectional and self-report data, which limits the ability to draw definitive conclusions about causality. Thus, more multi-source and longitudinal data from different expatriate populations would increase the validity and the generalizability of findings. The theory and empirical evidence indicate the importance of community embeddedness, particularly when organizational identification is low, for expatriates’ retention cognitions.

Practical implications

This study examines the important role of community relationship building behaviors on community embeddedness, and the role of community embeddedness in expatriates’ intention to stay.

Originality/value

This paper integrates the unique view of personal resources associated with different social contexts (i.e. community and organizational contexts) in expatriate studies.

Forbearance of culturally inappropriate leadership behaviors: a conceptual model

Purpose

Selection and training of expatriates emphasizes the importance of respecting and adapting to local cultural norms. However, even when motivated to modify their behavior, expatriates tend to act in ways which transgress host country cultural norms. While such transgressions can harm working relationships between expatriate manager and host country nationals (HCNs), this is not an inevitable outcome. The purpose of this paper is to apply the social psychological construct of forbearance to create a model which considers how transgression severity, responsibility attributions made by the HCN, empathy, and expatriate manager reputation influence HCN forbearance in the face of culturally inappropriate leadership behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper, which proposes forbearance as a process which can reduce dysfunctional outcomes on working relationships resulting from culturally inappropriate behaviors by expatriate managers.

Findings

The author argues that differences between expatriate and host country implicit leadership theories influence HCN attributions for culturally inappropriate leadership behaviors. These attributions, together with expatriate reputation, HCN empathy, and the severity of the cultural transgression, will determine the extent to which HCNs are likely to exercise forbearance.

Research limitations/implications

The paper suggests several important lines of research into the initial establishment of an effective working relationship between expatriate and HCN. Suggestions for further elaboration and testing of the model are also provided.

Practical implications

The model points to important processes (e.g. establishing incoming expatriate’s reputation, managing attributions, and facilitating empathy) which have the potential to reduce difficulties early in the assignment.

Originality/value

Much research into expatriate adjustment focuses on the expatriate. This paper adopts the perspective of the HCN, providing a framework for better understanding perceptual and attributional processes influencing the relationship.

Job resources and demands for expatriate academics

Purpose

While there is a growing interest in expatriate academics, their specific role as teachers with daily contact to local students seems to have been largely ignored when examining their adjustment and work outcomes. Based on the job demands-resources model the authors predict that good teacher-student relations, as a supportive job resource, will have a positive effect on expatriate academics’ job satisfaction. This effect, however, will be even stronger for individuals experiencing high job demands and challenges in terms of intercultural job adjustment. In other words, expatriate academics that have difficulties adjusting will benefit more from the social support that can originate from good relations to their students. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors surveyed expatriate academics adjusting to a university position in China by use of 124 responses from foreign university employees.

Findings

The authors found that teacher-student relations had a positive association with job satisfaction and that positive teacher-student relations increased job satisfaction more for individuals being slow to adjust.

Originality/value

This is one of the few papers to explore the impact that students can have on expatriate academics and treat this relationship as a potential resource for universities to capitalize upon in socializing their new foreign academic staff members.

Success and failure in international assignments

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on how success and failure for international assignments have been defined, and integrate several proposals for these definitions into a multi-dimensional model that considers task performance, relationship building, contextual performance and retention as all being part of how success or failure should be defined. The authors also discuss two proposed pre-requisites for success – absorptive capacity (operationalized at both the individual and the unit levels) and adjustment. The authors conclude by bringing in literature on performance management and how ideas about performance management must also be integrated into the discussion of the success or failure of international assignments.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews existing proposals regarding the definition of expatriate success and failure, and proposes a multidimensional model of success based on the past literature. Based on this literature the authors also propose two pre-requisites for success and discuss several requisite KSAOs, as well as some suggestions from the literature on performance management.

Findings

The authors argue for a multidimensional model of expatiate success which includes task performance, relationship building, contextual performance and retention as part of what constitutes a successful assignment. The authors also argue that absorptive capacity and adjustment should be considered as pre-requisites for success, and that principles from performance management should be applied to dealing with international assignments.

Research limitations/implications

A more comprehensive definition of success and failure should aid research by providing a better dependent variable, and by leading to research on various aspects of this outcome.

Practical implications

The proposed model and approach can hopefully help practice by clarifying the different dimensions of success and how performance management techniques can be applied to dealing with international assignments.

Originality/value

There has been a lot written about how we should operationalize the success or failure of international assignments. The present paper reviews that literature and integrates a number of ideas and suggestions into a multi-dimensional model which includes information about pre-requisites for success and relevant KSAOs, along with ideas from performance management to help insure the success of these assignments.

Occurrence of rating distortions and ratees’ fairness perceptions per raters’ mood and affect

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the occurrence of rating distortions under raters’ different mood conditions and at different levels of interpersonal affect of raters towards ratees, and further its association with ratees’ perceptions of distributive and interpersonal fairness.

Design/methodology/approach

For the scenario-based experiment, the study recruited 110 undergraduate students as participants. Of them, 22 raters appraised the video-taped buyer-seller negotiation performance of 88 ratees. Repeated measures analysis was employed to analyse data.

Findings

Results revealed that under different mood conditions (pleasant and sad) and at different levels of interpersonal affect towards ratees (high and low), raters distorted ratings (inflated and deflated, respectively). These rating distortions shaped ratees fairness perceptions in such a way that ratees who received inflated ratings due to raters’ pleasant mood and high interpersonal affect perceived more distributive and interpersonal fairness than ratees who received deflated ratings due to raters’ sad mood and low interpersonal affect.

Originality/value

The paper is a step towards integrating the affect infusion model with distributive and interpersonal fairness theory. This integration can be of value for enhancing our understanding of how rater-centric rating errors take place, which subsequently shape ratees’ fairness perceptions.

Mentorship of expatriates in transnational companies

Purpose

– Due to a number of reported failures of expatriation assignments, a growing body of literature is exploring the possible roles of mentors in supporting expatriates in critical phases while working in another culture. The purpose of this paper is to expand upon the research of mentoring based on a literature review and an empirical study of mentoring expatriates in three transnational companies.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper is based on findings from three case companies based in Denmark. In total, 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted with expatriates, managers and vice presidents at the three home organizations and their subsidiaries.

Findings

– Several empirical studies, including the study presented in this paper, indicate that ethnocentrism in the home-company is a main constraint for cross-cultural learning mediated by the expatriates. It is suggested that the HR department in the home-company should create specialized professional training programs and recruit employees with practical knowledge about expatriation. However, personal and relational mentoring should be conducted by experienced and motivated individuals who are supported and recognized, but not controlled, by the HR department.

Research limitations/implications

– This research is focused on Danish companies and further research is needed to test the theories in other cultural settings.

Practical implications

– This research can help companies and expatriates gain a more successful expatriation period.

Originality/value

– The value and role of mentorship is detailed from a theoretical and practical perspective, which adds to the body of literature on expatriates and mentorship.